The Fachhochschule Dortmund has now provided an insight into the digital world especially for schoolchildren: the IT crash course was a contribution by the Institute for the Digital Transformation of Application and Living Domains (IDiAL) to kick off Digital Week Dortmund (DiWoDo(Opens in a new tab) ) 2024.
How does the digital world that surrounds us all day actually work? Many of our everyday devices collect and process data, transmit it via WIFI and the internet and thus influence our lives. But what exactly does "collecting data" mean and how do the devices around us communicate with each other? What does artificial intelligence (AI) have to do with it? These were the questions addressed at the event "Computer Science for Schoolchildren: Understanding the digital world" on September 23, 2024.
In the workshop for pupils in grades 5 to 9, the IDiAL team led by Prof. Dr. Sabine Sachweh developed the concepts of the digital world in lectures and exercises. As a practical exercise, the participants looked around the parking lot behind the institute's building and systematically noted characteristics of the cars parked there, such as color and manufacturer. The aim was to manually classify the individual cars so that the data collected could later be automatically processed by algorithms.
The students also learned about the possibilities of automatically collecting and processing data thanks to the networking of technical devices. One example was the use of AI systems in connection with camera images to classify vehicles into categories with the help of computers.
In order to apply what they had learned directly at the end, the participants were able to put their skills to the test in an escape room and solve a tricky task.